Ohio House moves softened energy bill

COLUMBUS — The Ohio House moved legislation softening the state’s renewable and energy-efficiency standards, months after Gov. John Kasich vetoed a comparable bill sent to his desk by the legislature.

HB 114 passed on a vote of 65-30 today and heads to the Ohio Senate for further consideration.

Republicans mostly supported the bill.

“Contrary to much of what we have heard today, this bill has nothing to do with climate change or health,” said Rep. Bill Seitz, R-Cincinnati. “This is not about whether renewable energy is good or bad. It is not about whether energy efficiency is good or bad. … This is a bill about whether mandates on renewable power are the best way to get to the clean energy future that all of us at some level endorse.”

Democrats mostly opposed.

State Rep. John Boccieri of Poland, D-59th, said the state’s energy standards are an issue of national security.

“The facts are very clear,” he said. “Our foreign sources of energy and fossil fuels have embroiled the country in costly diplomatic conflicts and placed troops at risk. Why would we not innovate? Why would we not drive innovation and technology in a state as large as ours and the resources that we have available to us.”